Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will first acknowledge the horrific death toll following the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria and express my thoughts and sympathies for all of those affected by that horrific and devastating event. Last Thursday, I raised with the Tánaiste the need to resource the international protection accommodation services, IPAS, to ensure they had capacity to meet the housing needs of those from other countries seeking refuge here. Contracts for thousands of hotel beds currently used by refugees will expire very shortly. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has called on other Departments and State agencies to step up and offer spare housing. However, we see reports today that not one of 300 offers of property made by the HSE has been taken up by IPAS. Can the Taoiseach assure us that IPAS is sufficiently resourced to meet the needs of those who come here seeking refuge? Will he heed Labour's call for a dedicated Minister to co-ordinate the housing of refugees, to be located in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage? Will he ensure a co-ordinated cross-governmental approach to meeting the needs of those who are seeking refuge here and who are, in some cases, simply not being offered any housing?

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